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A Non-Spoilery Star Wars Review

So! We went to see Star Wars last night, and my non-spoilery and very SHORT review is: go see it, it’s wonderful.

My non-spoilery and somewhat longer review is: I was thoroughly entertained, I loved the new characters, and the cameos were well-done (speaking of which, once you’ve seen the movie you should google Daniel Craig’s cameo because it’s wonderful).

Non-spoilery things I particularly loved:

visceral impact – one of the things Episodes I-III lacked, in my opinion, was grounded CGI. A lot of it was pretty, but not a lot of it felt real. In Episode VII, all effects were used to their full potential. The original trilogy made good use of its effects as well, namely in the way it did not rely on them to tell the story, but VII uses them to underscore the emotional impact of scenes, such as storm troopers moving with the shots they take, and the audience hearing the bodies hit the floor. This sounds unpleasant, but it’s a good reminder of what’s actually happening in this movie

non-sexualization of Rey, Leia, and Phasma – Rey is a full character, the sort of person you can see having a romance and being sexual, just like Leia and Phasma. But none of them are forcibly sexualized, and that’s a critical distinction. Rey is allowed to just be in a way we often see from male protagonists. Another male character’s attraction to her (no spoilers, remember) is treated like just that – his attraction instead of a facet of her character.

the imperial rank and file reacting to dark side shenanigans – in Episodes IV-VI, this was much more poignant, as you watched people go to their deaths for disappointing Vader. It’s less casually cruel here, but one of the strengths of the movie is in presenting the First Order as an organization with internal politics, and watching storm troopers and soldiers react to Kylo Ren’s anger adds a very human feel to the movie that JJ Abrams allowed to run the full gamut of emotions

Kylo Ren – Adam Driver played this role fantastically. The end.

More about Rey – Daisy Ridley also played her role fantastically. Also the end.

The continuing arc of characters from the original trilogy – I liked it.

ships coming in over the water – we saw this scene in the trailers, so I’m not going to count it as a spoiler. It was epic. I adored it.

That One Emotional Gut Punch – terrible and absolutely perfect, and making me tear up even now